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Surprise leaders sound off on tearing down city's 'Berlin Wall' to unify residents

Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott stood before more than a hundred West Valley leaders on Wednesday and proclaimed the need to unite the diverse cross sections of her city in order to continue the uptick in development and forward progress.

Surprise leaders sound off on tearing down city's 'Berlin Wall' to unify residents

Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott stood before more than a hundred West Valley leaders on Wednesday and proclaimed the need to unite the diverse cross sections of her city in order to continue the northwestern suburb's positive growth.

"We are business people, veterans, students. We are kids, young families and retirees. We represent high-income and mid-range earners, people living on a fixed income and some of our neighbors even struggle to make ends meet.

"And while our needs may be different, together as a community, we are all one Surprise," Wolcott said in her annual State of the City address.

But getting residents to see themselves as one city hasn't always been an easy undertaking in Surprise. Some residents and even community leaders have jokingly referred to Bell Road, the city's main thoroughfare, as the "Berlin Wall."

Sharon Wolcott(Photo: City of Surprise)

To the north, retired residents live in age-restricted communities, many of which have lavish parks and other amenities paid for by expensive homeowners association dues. South of Bell Road, young and middle-age couples are raising families in the tract-home developments that permeated the area during the Valley's housing boom.

The road isn't the only thing that separates the two groups of residents. They also have differing opinions about city priorities.

This was evident late last year when a $63 million bond measure — which would have funded nine projects, including a new recreation center, swimming pool, road improvements and fire stations — failed by less than 500 votes.

Leading up to the election, some in the retirement communities expressed their dislike for the bond, which would have raised property taxes about $90 per year for the average homeowner. Many questioned why their taxes should be raised to pay for things like new parks and pools when they already have those amenities by way of their homeowners associations.

But proponents of the bond blamed the loss on residents from both sides of Bell Road. They said retirees couldn't see the benefits of moving the entire city forward, while younger residents simply weren't engaged enough to turn out at the polls in the numbers needed.

Wolcott said the city heard the message all residents were sending the council, and will work toward crafting a new plan to address the desires of the community as a whole.

"Together, we are getting so very close to understanding our community needs and knowing that it will take a financial commitment to address them," she said.

In the meantime, it's critical that all residents try to understand one another and work to become more engaged and community-minded, she said.

"While we share the goal for success in Surprise and while we may not always agree on how to do that, I believe we can reach consensus by learning more about the people that make up our community."

In that spirit, The Arizona Republic reached out to community leaders on each side of Bell Road to ask them what needs to be done to ignite unity in their sections of the community.

Power at the polls

Michael Planeta, a Phoenix firefighter and 28-year resident of Surprise, chaired the committee that pushed for the bond's passage.

He said he thought the bond would appeal to his neighbors south of Bell Road, who often complain about bad roads and a lack of recreation opportunities for their kids. So he was stunned to see their lack of participation in the election.

"Where I was really disappointed was south of Bell Road. You would have thought people would have been all over that," Planeta said.

He said the key to moving the city forward is teaching the people in his community that they can't just complain about retirees not valuing the same priorities — they have to act and participate instead.

But how to ignite that civic spirit is a much more difficult question.

"That's the million-dollar question. That's the question I've been wondering about for 28 years. I'm wondering, what is going to get you out to vote and understand?" Planeta said.

He said he doesn't fault the retirees for a lack of progress in the city. He understands that they may have different priorities. What he doesn't understand is how younger families can vastly outnumber retirees, yet the older residents still control the trajectory of the city.

"They're not to blame. They understand the power of the ballot box, and good for them," Planeta said. "But if the non-retirement communities understood the power of the ballot box, this would be a different city. It's not that it's a bad city now, it's that we would be way further ahead."

Part of a larger community

Newly elected Councilman Jim Hayden represents one of the largest swaths of retirees in Surprise. And at 80, he's a retiree himself and lives in the age-restricted Sun City Grand.

Hayden said he believes the bond failed because the retirement communities didn't see how it would benefit them as well.

"We need to do a good job in certainly making the case for them being a part of the community. And that's going to be my priority is to work hard on that," he said.

“We need to do a good job in certainly making the case for them being a part of the community. And that's going to be my priority is to work hard on that.”

Surprise Councilman Jim Hayden

At the last Surprise City Council meeting, the Council voted to approve eight new pickleball courts. The Council had previously voted against the request, but changed their course after a flood of retirees filled the Council chambers and presented their case for the sport popular in retirement communities.

Hayden called the decision "a real positive thing," for the retirement community. He said it proved to the retirees that while the Council has focused on infrastructure improvements and economic development in some of the areas south of Bell Road, it is still committed to the needs of its older residents.

He said he will continue to communicate the positive things happening in Surprise and inform them as to how they can partake in all of the great things happening in Surprise.

"Communication, I think, is the big thing to keep them abreast of what's going on. I'm real happy with what's going on with the city now," Hayden said.

Subcontractor Andrew Nelson paints, putting some of the final touches on the Bell Road/Grand Avenue overpass in Surprise. The road opened Nov. 22, 2016, after months of heavy construction and road closures. Nick Oza/The Republic

Subcontractor Andrew Nelson paints, putting some of the final touches on the Bell Road/Grand Avenue overpass in Surprise. The road opened Nov. 22, 2016, after months of heavy construction and road closures. Nick Oza/The Republic